Gasoline
by SecondSeraphim
Summary: As his job becomes even more difficult, Keitaro turns to a new, superpowerful street drug to forget his problems. But will it cause him to forget his dreams, as well? Adopted from Ausare. Also a bit of the hurt/comfort, friendship, and romance categories.
1. Hangover

A/N: _Welcome to Gasoline! This story was originally written by Ausare, but he allowed me to adopt it when he found himself unable to work on it any longer. These first three chapters are presented exactly as he wrote them, with the exception of this AN of course._

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**Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction. **

**I use characters that are licensed by a little man in Japan named Ken Akamatsu.**

**I use lyrics that are licensed by a big man in Germany named Till Lindemann.**

I need time

Don't need heroin

Nor alcohol, nor nicotine

I don't need help

Nor caffeine

But I do need dynamite and turpentine

I need oil for petrol

Explosive like kerosene

With lots of octane and free of lead

A fuel like gasoline!

_Benzin_, by Rammstein. Translated from German by Jeremy Williams.

**Gasoline**

Everything blurred.

He was going so fast, it made him dizzy.

The lights, the colors, the sounds! So overwhelming! He had never felt so powerful. His whole body was simultaneously hot, cold, vibrating, and still.

He looked forward on his downhill path.

Grinning madly, he sped onward into darkness.

A shaft of pure fire blasted into Keitaro's eyes, forcing him awake. He jolted upright, only to disturb his aching head. The sun was rising and birds were chirping, signaling the start of another day on the idyllic Hinata Girl's Dormitory. The resident landlord was in no condition, however, to appreciate the winter morning as he usually did.

"Hey, ASSHOLE!" a voiced screamed from above. What an abso-fucking-lutely terrific way to start what promised to be another shitty day.

He looked up from his futon to see what could have been a beautiful face, if the scowl was removed, in the hole connecting Keitaro's room to that of his love, Narusegawa Naru.

"Where the _hell_ were you? You were supposed to study with us!" she admonished him, referring to herself and Otohime Mutsumi, his fellow Tokyo University aspirants. Keitaro tried to apologize as usual, but a sudden stream of vomit prevented the words from making it out.

"And you're_ hung over? _What is the matter with you? The next entrance exams occur in two weeks! I guess you're not going to bother, huh? You already know you're going to panic on the test like you always do, so you show up here hung over, expecting my pity! Well, FORGET IT!" she screeched, slamming the hatch shut.

"Good goddamned morning. I would try harder, but I'm too busy taking care of you fucking infants. And when did I show up expecting any pity? Or any help? Or any appreciation, for that matter?" He didn't dare voice this to Narusegawa, whom he knew to be too fragile to take such a verbal beating. She cried when he made a simple crack about her glasses, for Christ's sake. As much as Keitaro hated himself for it, part of him secretly enjoyed watching her cry. So why did he still care about her, or anyone?

It was because he was simply a good boy that was finally maturing into a good man. He was empathetic, gentle, and put the needs of others before his own, without considering getting anything in return. He loved everyone, no matter how much they hated him for it. To his sorrow, his infinite patience with the young women he held so dear was waning. It had gotten to the point where he lived for those little moments of joy he could give the girls, because they were the only thing worth living for.

Those little moments were becoming few and far between, though. Shinobu was so in love with him that his mere presence made her nervous and uncomfortable. Su and Sarah had grown tired of him, like a toy. He sometimes missed their kicks to the face that were their twisted sign of affection. Kitsune had dropped his status to plaything, and she had even grown bored of toying with him. Motoko, fighting mounting feelings for him, had earnestly restarted her campaign to drive him out of the house. And Narusegawa just hated him.

Who needed the study session he had planned with her? That _fucking cow _would just attack him again if he so much as dropped his pencil. He would fly out of the room, land on Shinobu, and get pummeled by Motoko as she "accidentally" passed by.

To hell with that. Forget Naru. As for his best friends Haitani and Shirai, however...those boys knew how to have a good time. Haitani had promised something that would help Keitaro kick back. That something was a little syringe filled with green liquid.

"Try this, man. It's so fucking chill."

"What is it?"

"This? He asks what this is! This, _mi amigo_, is your ticket to relaxation. Think hot springs - times a thousand. This, pal, is Gasoline."

"Why would I want to put _gasoline_ in my body?"

"No, no, dumbass, that's just its nickname."

_Try this, man. It's so fucking chill._

Chill was what Keitaro needed. The inn was in a fanancial crisis again because the tenants seemed to keep worming their way out of their bills. He needed money, fast. First, though, he needed some Keitaro-time, and there was no other way to get it. With a certain amount of apprehension, he injected the contents of the needle into his arm and watched his troubles slide away.

That was last night.

He had no recollection of what happened. His memories went from taking to Haitani in a dark, loud club, to a green needle, to waking up at 4:30 in the morning laying on the kitchen floor back at Hinata Inn. And that was when...

His heart jolted, and he began sweating as he thought back to what happened. And _then_, sitting on the cold kitchen floor, he had reached into his pocket and drawn a large, bloody knife that he had never seen before. He had frantically washed it and snuck to his room, where he hid the knife behind his bookshelf.

He looked at that bookshelf now.

Trembling, he got up and approached it. He prayed to every god he knew of to somehow make last night a void. He wished that it had all just been a bad dream. With a deep breath, he reached behind the bookshelf.

He felt a large knife, still sitting in its hiding place.

"Oh, Christ. Oh, Jesus, please tell me I never left the house, and there isn't a knife back there, and it wasn't covered in..." He withdrew his fingers and looked at them. There was a very small spot of blood, from some part of the knife he had not cleaned.

He gazed at the blood for a long time.

A noise shook him out of his thoughts. "Hurry up, Shinobu says breakfast is ready." Another noise, and Narusegawa's sweet voice was gone.

A strange feeling took hold of him. He reached back, grabbed the knife, and looked it over. He somehow knew how to operate the mechanism, because in a flash, he had closed the switchblade. He stowed the weapon in his pocket - the same one he had first found it in.

Whistling, he went to breakfast.

**Okay, guys. I was looking at the translated lyrics to the song above and felt a strong urge to write this. I got hung up by work, however, and someone beat me to posting a story where our favorite **_**kanrinnin**_** gets into drugs. So, this is slightly unoriginal. Sorry. I'm trying to keep it in character for this one: I think I'm doing a pretty good job of depicting how Keitaro-abuse going on too long would affect the Hinata-sou. Of course, this is my own spin on how these characters would behave. Only Kenny A knows for sure. ; )**

**Another thing. I plan to keep this one very short -about five chapters, all around this size. There won't be any OC's or singing characters. And this could go grim or good. I want to do a happy ending, or at least a hopeful one, because I don't want this thing to be a downer. But seeing as drugs are bad, we'll see.**

**The story I'm writing with my friend, Garby, is still underway. It's the total opposite of what you see here: it's really stupid and funny, and OC's abound. It's called Hinata Brigade, and the author I.D. is "Garby." We'd much appreciate it if you'd check that out.**

**Please review. I'd like to know how entertaining this is. I love flames: they tell me that someone read the story.**


	2. Addict

A/N: _Welcome to Gasoline! This story was originally written by Ausare, but he allowed me to adopt it when he found himself unable to work on it any longer. These first three chapters are presented exactly as he wrote them, with the exception of this AN of course._

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**See previous for disclaimer. I'm not even sure if a disclaimer is necessary...**

I don't need a friend  
Nor cocaine  
I need neither a doctor nor medicine  
I don't need a woman, just Vaseline  
Some nitroglycerine  
I need money for fuel  
Explosive like kerosene  
With lots of octane and free of lead  
A fuel like gasoline!

_Benzin_, second verse, by Rammstein. Translated from German by Jeremy Williams.

**Gasoline**

"What the fuck you lookin' at?"

He grinned insanely. "Time for your haircut." The knife clicked open.

"Oh, Jesus, dude. Please, just chill," ...chill...chill...chill...CHILL!

"Are you okay?" Kitsune asked.

Keitaro snapped out of his trance and noticed the others were almost done with breakfast. His plate was untouched. "Uh, yeah, everything's chill."

"Well, good. You can be _chill _while you clean the springs." Narusegawa shot. "Good thing it's Saturday. That way I don't have to look after you, being hung over as you are."

This caught Kitsune's attention. "Hung over? So that's where you were - clubbing. You should have brought me. You know how..._affectionate _I get when I down a few." She winked at him and tried to show herself off.

Keitaro's reaction was unprecedented. He simply stared straight forward and held completely still. _"At least teasing me makes her happy," _he thought.

"Keitaro, are you peeking at her?" Naru shot angrily.

_Never fails. _"Nope."

The girls at the table, having been silently watching these goings on, were dumbstruck. The expected breakfast had been as follows:

Keitaro apologizes for nothing.

Naru nags him about chores.

Keitaro apologizes again.

Kitsune teases him with her body. He is visibly aroused but tries unsuccessfully to hide it.

Naru or Motoko hits him.

He walks back to the table and apologizes, flashing a warm smile that makes them all love him a little more.

Everyone leaves. Shinobu watches him go.

This change was enough to throw off their whole day. Their manager's... no, their _friend's _behavior was strange, and no one knew why. Though Keitaro had forgotten it, all the girls - even Naru - cared about him deeply, even if they had strange ways of showing it. There was no formal meeting or agreement, but all the girls felt a pressing need to restore the old Keitaro with haste. He was the heart of Hinata Inn, and they couldn't let him be troubled, or it would hurt everyone. First, however, they had to get to the bottom of his problem. He seemed to be avoiding them all day, until he finally appeared at the dinner table wearing his jacket.

"Sit down," Motoko said to him. "You're holding things up."

"Uh, sorry. Eat without me. I'm going out." Keitaro said in response. The girls paused and looked at him for a long time.

"I told Haitani and Shirai I'd hang out with them tonight." he explained lamely.

"We're supposed to study tonight, you idiot!"

"I need some money!"

"I need you to be the test subject for my machine!"

"You are to help me clean the samurai armor in my room!"

"Sempai, I thought you were going to help me with the dishes!"

"See," Naru said, "we all want...er, need you here. You can't go out tonight."

"I understand," said Keitaro. "I'll go wash for dinner." With that, he left for the washroom.

"He's shirking his responsibilities," Motoko said. "I _hate _that."

"Did I tell you how he promised to study with me, and stood me up?" said Naru.

"What!? He will pay!" Motoko jumped from her seat and ran for the washroom, seeking vengeance. She approached the washroom drawing her _bokken_, the wooden sword substitute she trained with. Kicking the door open, she dove forward...into an empty room. The light was on and the water was running, but Keitaro was not there.

Since its grand opening, the dance club "Hangar 04" had earned a reputation for being the loud, dark home of Hinata's seediest elements. There had been four gang-related shootings here, one of them requiring intervention by a SWAT team. There were regular petitions and calls for its removal. However, like a fungus, it had tenaciously attached itself to existence and seemed to survive its many detractors. Its halls, dimly lit by neon and obscured by noxious smoke, concealed Hinata's wealthy and poor alike as they sated needs that could not be taken care of legally. The societal diseases of drugs and prostitution had found an injury from which they could infect all of the town.

It seemed as though the more vigorously the club was attacked, the more defense it received from wealthy misers with political connections. It was one such tycoon, Kentaro Sakata, who Urashima met upon entering the club's main dance floor. The boy was known for his penchant for fast cars and loose women, but Keitaro had not been aware of the depth of his depravity until he had entered the building that night. He encountered Sakata lounging upon a large white couch, behind a low glass table laden with various items known for their dubious uses, such as needles and razors. Sakata seemed pleasantly dazed by the loud, repetitive music and the glaring strobe lights.

"Keitaro," Sakata called pleasantly, "heard you got yourself in a little fight last night."

"I-I don't know what you're t-talking about," stammered Urashima, having correctly inferred that the fight Sakata spoke of involved the bloody knife he had found in his pocket.

"Did that guy make it?" Sakata asked lightly. "Heard he was critical when the medics got to him."

"I don't remember what happened last night, man," Keitaro returned, now visibly upset.

"Maybe that first hit of Gasoline was too much, huh?" Sakata said, almost concerned.

"Look, I need to go." With that, Keitaro spun on his heel and abandoned Sakata, trying to supress his shuddering.

"Not so heavy tonight, my newbie friend..." the drug veteran called after him in a half-solicitous, half-mocking manner. All the while, he bobbed his head gently to music only he could hear.

What truly troubled Urashima was that Kentaro Sakata already knew why he was in the club tonight. As much horror as he felt from the thought of doing something so wrong, he had done exactly what appalled him so. He was back for more. Even as he walked through the club, noticing the stares he was receiving, and the murmurs of guests remembering the antics he could not, his feet still inexorably dragged him toward the table where he knew Haitani, the good kid gone bad, would be.

Haitani had changed since high school. He was once a polite, if amorous, youth with decent grades. He was involved with community service. He had been able to make friends in whatever situation he found himself in.

All that stopped when he went to community college. His father, who had struggled valiantly with alcoholism, had succumbed and had become unstable and aggressive. When his father lost his job because of the alcohol, the flow of money keeping Haitani in college stopped like a faucet. Haitani, deperate to continue learning, had juggled jobs, causing his grades to fall. He had to find money somehow, and one of his more dubious "pals" had suggested basic drug trafficking, starting with the job of errand boy.

It helped that he was a natural salesman, charismatic and charming. In just over two years he had become an important agent in the trade of marijuana, heroin, and just recently the so-called Gasoline. An important fact about Haitani is that he never used any of the drugs he sold. He was appropriately mistrusting of the drugs, especially of Gasoline. No one he talked to seemed to know what its ingredients were.

The boy knew that to have any chance of making it, he needed to get his college education. To accomplish that, he needed money. To balance work and study, he had to take up a high-risk occupation. He had hardened himself against pity for those whose lives were destroyed by his terrible wares. In short, he was so focused on passing college that he never thought twice about selling his best friend a drug which he knew was bound to shatter his life.

Keitaro ambled toward the table, staring intently at his feet. Haitani saw his approach. His stooped posture, his sluggish pace, and his occasional glances at Haitani's black suitcase gave Haitani all the information he needed. Here was a man who needed more. The poor boy was already addicted.

"Hey, Keitaro," Haitani called to his friend. "Good to see you tonight. You seem a little down."

"A little down? Haitani, what happened last night?" Keitaro asked directly, sitting across from him at the same type of low glass table that Sakata had been sitting at, on the same kind of white couch. The horrible purple lights conflicted nastily with the white of the couch.

"What do you mean? Oh, you mean your little tussle with that guy from the east side. Nah, he's fine, if that's what you're worried about."

_"Haitani," _Keitaro barked in a commanding tone, "what happened last night?"

"Aw, chill. You had your first dance with the green lady, tripped into some guy, and he got a little mad. So he told you to meet him outside so he could beat your ass. I slipped you my knife to give you a little edge. So you met him outside, and kinda got carried away," Haitani said, as if recounting the events of a football game. "You don't remember any of that?"

Keitaro shook his head. So the man was alive, but Keitaro had injured him, using Haitani's knife. He had commited two crimes in one night. If he was caught, he would certainly be imprisoned. Naru would be taken away from him. He would lose Tokyo University. He would lose the inn. He would lose everything he loved.

Even as these thoughts raced through his head, he was trading his money for Haitani's syringe.

"Can you do it for me? I hate needles." Keitaro plead.

"Yeah, stop shaking and I'll get you a bit."

"Just half of it for now, okay?"

"Of course." _Of course._ Haitani had no intention of administering any less than the entire contents of the syringe. By keeping doses high, Haitani was ensured future business.

"Here goes."

The effects were immediate. The feelings went much faster this time. He felt the music, the lights, the taste of the club. He was then dimly aware of being outside, and shortly thereafter he felt the Hinata Inn's presence. He noticed he had somehow made it through the front door, then he was confronted by an attractive combination of sapphire blue and creamy white, and finally he faded into the familiar black.

**Greetings, dear readers.**

**I was moving through some old documents and found this, waiting to be finished. I like the idea too much to let it die like so many other stillborn stories I've seen around. However, I reiterate that this story will not last very long. Two or three more chapters are in order. I've started on the next one already, and it should be arriving very soon. Like in so many good anime series, fanfictions are often ruined by either being massively truncated (Love Hina and Evangelion needed another season) or drawn out to impossible lengths (Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z should have been done by the 26th episode). I almost know how this is going to end, but I haven't decided yet because of all the possibilities that this storyline presents to me.**

**I'm taking a major turn with the plot, beginning now. Suffice it to say that I think you'll enjoy finding out what the "attractive combination of sapphire blue and creamy white" was. **

**Again, please review. Flames are fine - they tell me that someone read the story.**


	3. Three Little Words

A/N: _Welcome to Gasoline! This story was originally written by Ausare, but he allowed me to adopt it when he found himself unable to work on it any longer. These first three chapters are presented exactly as he wrote them, with the exception of this AN of course._

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**Same spiel as usual. I am but a humble writer with an inability to make and describe chraracters of my own. ****I've been trying to upload this chapter for a few days, but the site has been failing me.**

_**Benzin, third verse, by Rammstein**_

Gib mir Benzin  
Es fließt durch meine Venen  
Es schläft in meinen Tränen  
Es läuft mir aus den Ohren  
Herz und Nieren sind Motoren

_**Translated from German by Jeremy Williams:**_

Give me gasoline  
It flows through my veins  
It sleeps in my tears  
It leaks from my ears  
Heart and kidneys are motors! _(maniacal laughter)_

**Gasoline**

"No...stop!"

"What? Who are you? Why are you in my dormitory? _I'm the manager here."_

"Please, don't you know who I am? _Wait!"_

There was a knock and a thump. The girl knelt on the floor, cradling her eye.

"This is my dorm! Why...why are you...?" Keitaro didn't finish, but instead passed out on the floor.

The girl sobbed softly, for a long time.

Again, with the damned sun! Why did it have to be so...bright?

Keitaro moaned, and slid his eyes open slowly. He was face to face with an angel. The morning sun was captured by her silky azure hair, making a golden halo around her lovely face. Her large, sapphire blue eyes gazed at his own as she knelt over him. As she came into greater focus, he noticed they way her hair clung to her flawless, snowy skin. He looked at her distraught yet gradually brightening face and realized she had been crying. Ever since he opened his eyes her caring smile had been growing, and he had to look away for a moment to keep from being overwhelmed by her beauty.

It was Shinobu! A new bruise had recently blossomed across her left eye. She had clearly been crying. She was hurt.

He leapt onto his feet, and promptly fell down and threw up.

"Careful, Sempai! Don't hurt yourself!" Shinobu returned herself to his side, ready with a washcloth she had made ready some time ago. She carefully cleaned his face of sweat and vomit.

"Shinobu" Keitaro choked through the burning stomach acid which had recently filled his mouth, "what happened to you?"

"Lay back, Sempai. You're tired and sick." Obeying her, he drank the water she offered him and allowed her to clean various light injuries on his body. From his appearance, it looked as though he had been dragged through a rose bush. He sported an array of light cuts and scrapes. His palms were covered with moderate abrasions, indicating he had tried to catch himself from falling several times.

"Shinobu! You have to tell me. It's my job to keep you safe. I promised your parents I would. Now tell me what happened."

"You - you don't remember?" she stammered. Thinking for a moment, she added, "I fell." Gold sunlight from the window caressed her face, and Keitaro noticed a subtle quivering of her jaw. Keitaro tried to remember what had gone on the night before. At that moment, Shinobu moved to his side so that she could sit on her futon. It only occurred at that moment to Keitaro that they were in her room. In the different light of Shinobu's new position, he could more clearly make out the bruise over her eye. Something about its shape disturbed him.

He had skipped dinner to go to the club...

He had met with Sakata, but then moved on...

He met with...

_Haitani._

He had done it again. Keitaro became suddenly dizzy. He had done it _again_. How many times had he admonished himself for going in the first place? How many times had he wondered why a bloodied knife was in his possession? Yet he had gone right back to the Green Lady's side. He had shot up again.

Hating his weakness, Keitaro decided to attend to Shinobu as she had done for him. He moved closer and reached for her face to inspect the injury, but she flinched away from his touch.

"Shinobu, what's wrong?"

"Ah...nothing. I just got nervous..." She moved again, looking up at him, and her hair fell away from the bruise area. Keitaro was for the first time able to see the bruise in its entirety. He quickly became sick again, for he realized what was so troublesome about the wound. It spanned across the outside edge of her eye orbit, formed by four heavy marks which radiated damage outward. He gazed at the four marks and could only think of one thing.

Knuckles.

Each point was where a knuckle had hit. Shinobu had not fallen. She had been punched in the face by a hand too large to belong to a school bully. The fist size was perfect for a twenty-year old Japanese male. Keitaro had hit her.

"God, Shinobu. I'm so sorry," Keitaro sobbed, losing control and pulling the girl into a comforting embrace. "I didn't mean to. I would never..."

"I love you." It was unclear which of the two said it, but both of them certainly heard it.

Shinobu's simple story was that she had been trying to remove a bottle of oil from a high shelf, and that the bottle had struck her in the eye on the way down. This story, combined with a carefully forged oil slick in the kitchen, provided an acceptable reason for her blackened eye, and the case was not pursued. Keitaro still caught hell that morning for skipping Shinobu's delicious dinner, and surely insulting her, so alleged the other four girls. It didn't help that his dereliction of duty was fairly grand, and the thrashing Motoko had tried to administer the night before was paid for threefold.

That said, with Shinobu's cooperation, Keitaro escaped the incident with little damage. His only injuries seemed to be a couple splinters he acquired repairing the damage Motoko's poorly aimed attacks had made on the inn itself.

It was eleven at night, and Keitaro was headed for the door.

All the pain he had gone through was forgotten. All the pain he had caused, disregarded.

Nothing could stop him. There was no force in the world great enough to stop him from getting more. All day he had craved it. He could feel the pleasure of green tendrils wrapping around his veins. He had to get more Gasoline. He wanted another dance with the Green Lady. The power had faded away, and he wanted it back.

No force known to man could keep him from holding that level of power again.

Except one.

"Sempai!" Shinobu appeared from the darkness and blocked his path.

"Shinobu, I was...going...to walk..." Keitaro started off strong, carried by the greed for more of the drug. As he spoke, however, he was anchored by the dead weight of lying to her.

"Sempai, please stay home tonight. I don't want you to go back to the place that changes you." She looked at her feet throughout her proclaimation. "Let's go back to your room. I need to talk to you."

Keitaro's room was dimly lit by a single desk lamp, and rather cold. He had neglected to fix the furnace vent leading to his room, prioritizing the warmth of the tenants, and the chill rain that had begun to fall outside dropped the room's temperature to uncomfortable depths. Shinobu and Keitaro, wrapped in layers of bedclothes, did their best to ignore the discomfort. They sat on his futon, staring at each other for a few minutes, trying to read each other's mind.

"Sempai," began Shinobu quietly, "is it drugs? We learned the warning signs in health class."

Slowly, Keitaro nodded, and hung his head in shame. "I didn't want you to know. I don't want you to think it's alright."

"I don't."

Keitaro was stung. He knew Shinobu looked up to him, but to hear her disapproval of his actions was very painful.

"You were going to get more."

Keitaro now stared at his knees.

"You would have come home some time later, and maybe hit me again."

His eyes began to water. Yes, those had been his intentions.

"The worst part would have been the danger you put yourself into."

Keitaro looked up, and saw that Shinobu was crying.

"I don't care what you do to me. But I can't let you go out there and do it again, because you'd be risking your life. You risk your life every time you take those horrible drugs. And I can't stand the thought of something happening to you." Unbidden, Shinobu threw herself into Keitaro's arms. He held her as though she might escape from him.

"Shinobu, I'll never hurt you again. I'll never do the drugs again. _I promise_."

**Don't you love a man of his word? I've got two more chapters outlined, with #4 in progress. As we know, Keitaro always keeps his promises, but that doesn't mean we've seen the last of Gasoline. I've placed some real trouble on Keitaro's horizon. **

**The date in the story is roughly two weeks before Christmas, and students and colleges all over the world are registering for spring classes. **

**Suffice it to say that Haitani really can't afford to lose customers right now.**


	4. Anger

A/N: _Welcome to Gasoline! Ausare originally wrote this story, but he allowed me to adopt it when he found himself unable to work on it any longer. The previous three chapters were all by him, but from this point on its all me. I own Love Hina. Which is why I am posting this as a fanfiction instead of making it into an episode. What? What do you mean that doesn't make sense?_

Gasoline

A Love Hina Fanfiction

Written by SecondSeraphim

Adopted from Ausare

If you want to part with something  
then you have to incinerate it  
If you never want to see it again  
let it swim in gasoline  
Gasoline  
I need gasoline  
Gasoline  
Give me gasoline!

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When Keitaro woke the next morning, it was to the sight of an angel. There, lying in arms was no other than Shinobu Maehera, the sun light from his open window dancing along her face. Doing his best not to wake her, he brought his hand up and stroked her check before moving up to stroke her hair.

'_Shinobu…'_

After their take and his promise the two had talked long into the night on other, insignificant things. She had been unwilling to leave alone without him asking her, though she didn't want to admit out loud that she didn't trust him. It was ok though, as he didn't trust himself. He thought that as soon as she left him he would give in and go to slake the thirst that even now tore at his bones.

The thirst for the Green Lady.

And so, her afraid to leave and him not wanting her to, the two had talked for hours until eventually Shinobu just couldn't stay awake any longer and drifted off to sleep. He had contemplated carrying her back to her room, but had decided against it. Even asleep, Shinobu was a great piller of strength. And so he had tucked her into his futon before grabbing the extra blanket from his closet and lay down next to her to sleep.

As he was stroking her hair Shinobu sleepily opened her eyes and gazed at him. "Sempai?"

"Good morning Shinobu," he smiled at her. She smiled back and closed her eyes again, happy to see her love healthy again.

"You kept your promise…" she whispered half to herself and half to him, so that he had to lean in to hear what she had said. Opening her eyes she was startled to see Keitaro so close to her; however instead of blushing and backing away as she would have before this whole mess started she was suddenly emboldened. Darting forward quickly, she pressed her lips to his own. Pulling back as soon as she realized what she had done, she blushed at first then paled at the look on Keitaro's face.

"I'm sorry! I don't know what I was thinking! Please don't be mad!"

"No! No, I'm not mad it was just…unexpected is all," he assured her, wiping the frown from his face.

"Oh," she replied, blushing again. The two continued in silence for several minutes, neither one knowing what to say and both afraid of saying the wrong thing, when Shinobu finally broke it when she spoke.

"Sempai...Keitaro. Why is it that you…"

"Took the drugs?" He guessed, and guessed right as Shinobu nodded.

"It wasn't…it wasn't anything I did was it?"

"No!" he almost shouted before forcing himself to speak quieter. "_Never_ think that Shinobu, _never!_ Out of all the girls here you are the only one nice to me, and that includes my aunt for crying out loud! No, among all the reasons I took the drugs, one thing that was definitely not on the list was _you!_"

"So you don't hate me?"

"I could _never_ hate you."

Relieved that she was not in anyway to blame for her Sempai's path of self-destruction, she quickly turned her mind back to the job of finding out what _was_ responsible. And she had a few ideas what, or rather who, some of those reasons might have been.

"Um…if you don't mind me asking, why _did_ you take the drugs?"

Keitaro sighed. "If you want a defining moment Shinobu, something that pushed me over the edge, I'm afraid I can't give it to you. What made me take the drugs wasn't a single even but rather was the culmination of, well, _everything_. Everything that's been going on lately, the stress of it all, Todai, running this place, dealing with all the cra-er, garbage Naru and the others put me through everyday…especially Naru. I loved her you know? Not now though…I just couldn't take it anymore," he told her, feeling much better as he got it off his chest. Shinobu nodded.

"So it was stress?" Shinobu asked, pushing the bit of information that Keitaro no longer loved Naru to the back of her mind. It was an important piece of information, one that brought her much joy and hope, but at the moment there was something more important to focus on. Keitaro.

"The first time, yeah," he whispered. "After that…I just needed it. Needed the power."

"That's how drugs work Sempai. They give you a bit of joy or freedom…and then take it all away. It gets so you'd do almost anything for that joy, but the price gets steeper and the relief shorter every time."

"How'd you get so smart?" he asked causing her to blush.

"I need to be smart…so that I can get into Todai someday," she added, blushing the next moment as she realized something. Keitaro noticed.

"Something funny?"

"You made a promise to me…I'm a promise girl now."

Keitaro internally groaned. "I seem to collect those rather well," he dryly said. Shinobu instantly started to panic.

"I'm sorry! You don't have to think of me as one if you don't want to!" she almost yelled rolling over better to face him. As she did a few pieces of hair moved out of place.

"Na," he answered her brushing the hair back into its rightful spot. "I think I'll keep this one. But I really should stop collecting them, I'll have enough for a harem at this rate."

Pride and joy filled Shinobu at the news that Keitaro didn't mind thinking of her as a promise girl. She was about to the reply when the board above their heads began to slide open, filling Keitaro with fear…and Shinobu with anger.

Not something she felt all that often.

"What the hells with all the noise down here this damn early in the morning?!" she demanded as she stuck her head down. She froze as she caught sight of Keitaro with his hand in Shinobu's hair.

"YOU PERVERT!" she screamed jumping down and kicking him into the wall. Naru then began to charge at him to punch him when she found herself blocked by Shinobu standing in between them. "Shinobu move!"

"No." Shinobu replied, causing Naru to blink in surprise.

"What is wrong with you? He was molesting you!"

"No he wasn't! And I won't let you hurt him anymore."

"What's gotten into you?"

"Anger. A spine. Take your pick. I won't let you touch him again," she stated, staring Naru down. Naru stared back, finally giving in with a sigh. "Fine. But if anything happens…"

"It won't. Now leave."

Naru did, and Shinobu turned to help Keitaro back up. The ronin had been sitting there watching the exchange, completely shocked by Shinobu's completely uncharacteristic behavior.

Then again, things hadn't exactly been normal lately.

Just as Shinobu was in the process of pulling Keitaro up however she heard the door slid back open. Before she could turn around she was pushed to the side and landed with a "oomph!" Naru had returned, and was in the process of charging Keitaro.

"What the hell did you do to Shinobu?!" she demanded hitting him back into the wall. She sat astride him and prepared to begin pounding him in the face for answers…when suddenly something slammed into her from the side, knocking her off him.

"I said don't touch him!" she screamed at Naru punching her in the face. It felt good, so she did it again, and then a third time. By this point the door to Keitaro's room slammed open again revealing Motoko standing there with her sword drawn. "Urashima! I-wha?" she asked as she caught sight of Shinobu hitting Naru. Reacting quickly she dropped her blade and pulled the girl off of her. As soon as she did so however, Shinobu spun around and hit her as well, knocking her back more from shock then from pain.

"What's going on here?" came a voice from the door. Kitsune and Su had arrived, and were both staring wide-eyed in shock at the content of the room. Keitaro, on the ground looking dazed in shocked, Naru on the ground several feet away from him clutching what appeared to be a broken nose, Motoko holding her hand to a reddening check, and in the center of it all a seemingly pissed looking Shinobu.

"What happened?" she repeated. Shinobu ignored her.

"Get out." she said instead. Kitsune blinked in shock.

"Shinobu-"

"I said get out!" she screamed, clutching her fists and making all the other girls flinch. "This whole thing…this is all your faults, all of you! So just…just go away."

Staring at her while trying to figure out hat she meant by "their fault", the residents began to comply. Motoko was the first to go, picking up and sheathing her sword before leaving without a backward glance. Kitsune helped Naru up and half walked half dragged her out of the room. It was obvious from the way the blonde was glaring at Keitaro that she didn't want to leave, but was in no condition to argue at the moment.

Su was the last to leave. The blonde gajin stood in the entrance to the room, shifting from foot to foot as if she wasn't sure what to say. Finally she spoke. "Shinobu…what ever it was I did…I'm sorry," she said before sliding the door shut and walking away.

Her audience gone Shinobu's anger began to leave her. It was replaced with feelings of shame and anger at her own actions.

That was, until a moment later when she felt a warm pair of arms wrap themselves around her in a hug. After that, nothing else mattered.

* * *

The rest of the day passed without either Keitaro or Shinobu seeing much of the other residents. When they did, the other residents either ignored them or hurried out of them room.

To the two outcasts they really didn't mind. They had spent the entire day together, Shinobu running to the kitchen to cook a pair of microwave beef bowls whenever they got hungry. What the other residents ate they neither knew nor cared. They just stayed together, Keitaro studying for the upcoming exam and Shinobu working on her homework. Neither of them had anyone but each other at the moment after all.

All in all, it wasn't that unpleasant.

* * *

Haitani finished counting the money from that night's sale of Gasoline and frowned. Profits were down from what they had been the previous night. Apparently one of his users had gotten himself killed while dancing with the Green Lady, and several others had skipped that night out of fear. They didn't matter; it was perfectly acceptable for someone to skip a night, because by the next night the addiction would drive them back for more. No, what worried Haitani was Keitaro. His friend had managed to stay away for two whole nights, something he hadn't ever seen before. And if he could do it, then so could others. No, Haitani couldn't lose anyone, not even Keitaro. Not when it was so close to time to pay for a new semester.

It looked like a home visit was in order.

* * *

A/N: _Angry Shinobu is scary…I don't know if the original author of this fic planned for this to be a Kei/Shin fic, but it _is_ my favorite pairing and the framework for it was there…I couldn't help myself (the devil made me do it! The tiny, blue haired blue eyed devil!)_


	5. Revelations

Gasoline

A Love Hina Fanfiction

Written by SecondSeraphim

Adopted from Ausare

Shinobu.

Before this whole thing started, if someone had asked him what the girl had meant to him he would have given a different answer than the one he gave now. He would have called her a friend, a little sister. Someone he had vowed to protect.

And then it happened. Gasoline. The drug had taken so much from him and from her. It had caused him to break his vow of protection, had made him hit her. And as a result he now hated the drug, and himself, for what it had made him do.

Shinobu didn't hate him. Nor bear him a grudge of any kind. Her anger was driven toward the ones who had driven her love to embrace such a dark path. Naru. Motoko. Kitsune. Su. The girls whom she thought of as her friends were her friend no longer.

For the most part anyway. Naru, Motoko, and Kitsune all avoided her, and him. Naru out of anger, Motoko out of confusion, and Kitsune out of loyalty to her oldest friend. Only Su made any attempt at reconciliation, and when Keitaro forgave her Shinobu did as well. Still, there was the sense that things had changed, possible forever.

That's not always a bad thing.

Keitaro woke up for the second morning in a row face to face with an angel. Shinobo had spent the second night in a row in his room with him, the two doing no more than hugging each other as they slept. But it was enough.

Keitaro wasn't even sure if the two of them had a relationship, much less were they stood if there indeed was one. Shinobu hadn't needed to stay the previous night. The drug use had been caught early enough, the drugs out of his system long enough, for him to no longer be affected by the cravings that had plagued him the two days passed. He knew this, and Shinobu knew this. And yet she stayed there anyway. It was not because she didn't trust him; far from it, she trusted him with her life. No, it was for one simple reason.

They both wanted it.

There was of course the issue of the girl's age. She was only 14 years old to his 20. But Keitaro had spent 15 of those years waiting on happiness...he saw no reason why he couldn't wait a few more.

That is, if Shinobu really did want him.

Almost as if she had heard his thoughts and wanted to answer him Shinobu opened her eyes. Blushing at how close she was to the man she loved, she quickly darted forward to give him a kiss on the lips. Rather than look stunned like he had the day before, he just smiled, causing the young girl to blush.

"I think I could get used to that Shinobu," he said, causing her blush to turn even brighter. In attempt to cover it up she slid out of his hold and stood up stretching. As she did, Keitaro found himself following the slim curve of her figure with his eyes before shaking his head and tearing them away.

'_To young…for now.'_

Keitaro had to smile at this. The "for now" bit is something he never would have thought of before everything had happened. He frowned slightly as he remembered the events that led to this moment, and then shook them off. That was then, this was now. Now was worth it.

Shinobu gave him a smile.

Now was _definitely _worth it.

Standing up he wrapped his arms back around her and gave her a hug. She giggled, which made him squeeze her all the tighter. 

"I need to get started on breakfast."

'_Or I could just eat you,'_ thought Keitaro for a moment, then grudgingly banished the though. Now might be good, but it would be a few years yet before things got _really _good. He didn't mind waiting though, as the girl he held in his arms was _most definitely _worth it.

Still, he_ was_ getting hungry. He reluctantly let her go.

Sighing, the girl went off to cook breakfast.

She never got it done however, as just as she was getting the frying pan out to cook some eggs with the doorbell rang. Waiting a moment to see if anyone else would answer it, when no one did she walked over to it and looked through the peephole.

It was Keitaro's friend, Haitani.

Opening the door for him with a smile, Shinobu asked "What can I do for you today Mr. Haitani?"

"I'm here to see Keitaro. Is he in?"

"Yes, however he is feeling a bit under the weather at the moment I am afraid. May I ask what you needed him for?"

"He and I were supposed to meet up the other night, but he never showed. I was just making sure he was ok."

"As I said he is a bit under the weather. If you will wait in the living room I will go see if he is feeling up to seeing you," Shinobu explained, not sure if Keitaro would want to see his friends at the moment. Plus something about what Haitani said didn't sit right with her.

Either way Haitani nodded and sat down on the couch while Shinobu went of to see Keitaro.

Keitaro was a bit surprised to see Shinobu so soon. "Breakfast down already?" he asked, to which the girl shook her head.

"Your friend Haitani is here to see you."

Suddenly a look of panic covered Keitaro's face, shocking Shinobu. "Sempai? Are you alright?"

"Tell him I don't want to see him."

Shinobu frowned. "What-"

"Please Shinobu. I don't want to see him."

Shinobu studied her friend for a moment, then nodded and left. As she entered the living room Haitani stood.

"I'm sorry, but Keitaro isn't up to seeing anyone right now."

"Are you sure? I just needed to talk to him for a few. It won't take long at all."

"I'm sorry," Shinobu replied quite firmly. "But he said no."

Haitani was quickly losing his patience with the little girl. Reaching out to push her out of the way he was stopped by a voice from the staircase. Recognizing the voice, Haitani quickly withdrew his hand.

"What is going on in here?" demanded Motoko as she stood on the upper landing of the staircase, Su hanging off her shoulders. She walked down the stairs with her hand the hilt of her blade and her eyes on Haitani.

"Mr. Haitani was just leaving," replied Shinobu coldly, having seen Haitani's aborted attempt to push her out of the way. At this Haitani scowled.

"I just want to see Keitaro for a few minutes. Then I'll leave, I promise!"

"And I told you Keitaro doesn't want to see you."

Motoko studied the two of them for a moment before turning toward Haitani. "While I may despise Urashima, his desire to not see you is his choice. Therefore you are not welcome her, and must leave immediately."

"Damn it let me see him already! It's really important that I talk to him!" he shouted losing his patience "Why the hell wouldn't these women just get out of his way? Deciding to show who the man of the group was he tried to push by Shinobu.

To his surprised however she pushed back.

"I SAID NO!" Shinobu shouted losing her patence as well and shoving him as hard as she could. It wasn't hard, but it was hard enough to make him trip and fall down.

"Gah! What was that for?" he demanded. Shinobu didn't answer him. She was too busy staring at what had fallen from his pocket when he was kicked down.

A syringe. Filled with a green, see through liquid.

"What…what is that?" she demanded pointing at it. Haitani followed her gaze and paled.

"It's nothing. Just medication for…for my diabetes," he said, reaching for it. Shinobu was faster than he was though, and grabbed it up. "Hey! Give it here!"

Shinobu stared at the syringe in her hands as the dots in her mind slowly connected. Keitaro has been using drugs. Shinobu had stopped Keitaro from going out and getting more drugs. Haitani claimed that Keitaro was supposed to come see him the other night. Keitaro didn't want to see Haitani. Haitani had a syringe full of a strange liquid that he claimed was for his diabetes.

Shinobu had worked at her family restaurant long enough to know what insulin shots looked like. This wasn't it.

"You're the one who changed Sempai…"she murmured, causing Su and Motoko to look at her in confusion. Haitani's eyes widened as he heard her, and he once again reached for the syringe.

"NO!" Shinobu shouted moving to keep him away from it. Getting annoyed at some little brat keeping him from what he wanted he tried to grab her to get it away from her. Cursing under her breath Motoko reached for her sword to stop the man from hurting their youngest…only to find she didn't have to. As Haitani lunged at Shinobu she grabbed the frying pan from where she had set it and swung it at him, hitting him square in the nose.

There was the loud sound of bone breaking as Haitani clutched at his nose and screamed. "YOU BITCH!" she yelled causing both Su and Motoko, who had both been frozen since Shinobu's unexpected assault, to flinch.

"Get out." Shinobu said calmly. Haitani scrambled to his feet still clutching his broken nose and glared at her.

"This isn't over little girl!" he barked through his hands. "Not by a long shot!" he shouted as he retreated out the Hinata's front door. Shinobu watched him go for a minute before turning to Su.

"Su?" she asked breaking the girl from her revere. "Can you use your lab to find out what this is?" she asked the girl handing the syringe to her.

"Oh! Uh, yeah sure," Su replied taking it from Shinobu and running off to her room to run tests. Shinobu looked after her for a second before turning to go check on Keitaro. Before she had gone more than a few steps however a hand was placed on her shoulder. The glanced up to find Motoko looking worriedly at her.

"Shinobu. What was that about?"

Shinobu contemplated just telling Motoko to shove off for her part in causing Keitaro such pain, but in the end decided it would be better punishment to know what she had forced the kind man into doing. "Go to Su's room. I'm going to check on Keitaro then I'll come by and explain everything."

Motoko observed the girl for a moment more before withdrawing her hand and heading to Su's room. Once she was gone Su quickly turned and returned to Keitaro.

"Shinobu?" he asked as she entered the room. "What's wrong? What was with all the noise? Haitani…he didn't do anything to hurt you did he?" he demanded. Shinobu smiled at his concern.

"He tried," she said before going into an explanation on what had happened. When she was done, Keitaro frowned, causing Shinobu to frown as well. "Sempai?"

"I hope he doesn't try and pull anything...maybe I should have talked to him. I shouldn't let you fight my battles for me!"

"You always protect me Sempai. It was time for me to protect you."

"Yeah…you said Su's looking at the stuff?"

"Yes…Sempai? I told Motoko that I would explain everything to them."

At this Keitaro tensed up, but relaxed a moment later. "Might as well. Was gonna get out eventually. Things always do."

Shinobu smiled at the comment, leaning forward and giving him a kiss on the forehead before standing up and leaving the room. Entering Su's room a few moments later, she was unsurprised to see Su sitting at a large computer staring at an image of what appeared to be many connected dots, but the look of shock and fear on the gajin's face gave her pause. Motoko stood behind her friend looking at the image as well, though a look of confusion accompanied her gaze. Shinobu walking up behind them and cleared her throat. Immediately two pairs of eyes were focused on her.

"Shinobu," began Motoko, "What happened earlier? And does it have anything to do with the incident in Keitaro's room yesterday?"

"You could say that," Shinobu replied bitterly, launching into her story. When she got to the part about Keitaro using drugs, Motoko's face turned to disgust at the "weakness" of their manager, and Su let out a gasp.

"He was injecting himself with this stuff?" she demanded, to which Shinobu nodded. Su looked sick. "Oh dear gods above…" she whispered, sinking down to the floor. Shinobu looked at her with concern for a moment before the girl nodded for her to continue. She did, but when she mentioned Keitaro hitting her she was interrupted again, this time by Motoko.

"That fiend!" she shouted, moving to rush forward, her hand on her sword…only to be blocked by a fury filled Shinobu.

"Don't you touch him!"

"But Shinobu, he hit you! He must be punished!"

"And who's fault do you think that was that he hit me? Maybe the people who drove him to take the drugs?"

"Our fault. All our fault." Su muttered, clearly getting it. Motoko just as clearly _didn't _get it, for she narrowed her eyes as Shinobu.

"What are you talking about?"

"Wouldn't you give in Motoko, if the people you cared most about told you time and time again how _useless_ you were? How you would never be loved, never be wanted?"

"We never told Urashima any such thing!"

"No. All you did was call him a weakling and hit him with ki attacks every chance you got. All Naru did was tell him he would never get into Tokyo U and hit him whenever she wanted. All Kitsune did was scam him out of everything to his name time and time again. And all Su did was blow him up!" She finished, causing Su to flinch and start crying as he crimes were mentioned. Motoko stood there with her mouth agape and stared at Shinobu.

Where had this girl come from? Where had the shy, weakling of a girl gone? Did seeing her loved one hurt this much do this to her? Did Motoko and the others do this to her, through their actions toward Keitaro?

"Shinobu I'm…I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you should be saying that to," the blunette snarled, turning to check on Su. The blonde gajin had simply sat there as Shinobu went on, her guilt growing. Motoko stared at her, then at Shinobu, and then at the sheath in her hand. Suddenly overcome with disgust at herself Motoko tore it off and threw it to the ground before covering her eyes and letting the tears come.

"Dear kami what have we done…"

'_We have taken what was innocent and killed it. Not once, but twice. First in Keitaro…and then in Shinobu.'_

"You are correct of course Shinobu. I must go and apologize to Urashima at once," she said, turning to go. She was stopped by Shinobu's hand on her shoulder. "Shinobu, what-"

"No."

Motoko froze. "What?" she whispered, unbelieving in what she had heard.

"I said no. Tell me Motoko, if you apologize now, right after my yelling at you, will you have meant it? Or would you just be doing it to get rid of the guilt gnawing at your bones? Wait I say, let time pass. Then if you are still sorry apologize. Because he is Keitaro, and he will forgive you no matter how long you take."

Motoko just stared at this strange girl in front of her, who was now patting a calmed down Su on the back. She wondered again just when she had gotten so smart.

"Hai. You are correct of course Shinobu…sensei."

Shinobu started at this, but then smiled, a rueful smile. "Thank you. Now then Su, can you tell me what the drug was?"

Su cleared her throat and wiped the tears off of her face. "Shinobu…that man, Haitani. Is he the one who sold Keitaro the drugs?" she asked. At this Motoko jerked her face toward Shinobu, and when the cook nodded she scowled.

"_He's_ the one responsible? We must call the police at once!"

"We can't do that Motoko," interrupted Su, causing the swordswoman to look at her friend. "Look, if we tell the police about the drugs, they'll want to know how we know about them. And if tell them about Keitaro they'll arrest him!"

"This is true…" assented Motoko, "But there must be _something _that we can do."

"Maybe we'll think of something later, but right now I want to know what the drugs were," said Shinobu, turning back toward Su. At this Su frowned.

"I wasn't sure what I was looking at when I first did a chemical scan Shinobu. The chains inside of the drug were more complex than any chemical I've ever seen. That's when I realized…Shinobu, the drug isn't chemical. It's genetic."

Shinobu blinked, and Motoko frowned. "What?"

"Genetic. Actually it's closer to a virus in function, though resembles DNA in design…the drug, whatever it, actually bonds to the human genetic structure and alters the DNA. It's different than a virus through as instead of altering the cellular structure to produce more of the drug, it alters the structure to require the drug to continue functioning. After repeated use the drug becomes mandatory just to avoid dying."

"Dying!"

"Yes, but that takes about four or five doses to get that far…um, how don't know how many did Keitaro take do you?"

"Just two, I think."

"Then he should be safe, I think. He'll be in pain for a while I think as his DNA reverts to normal, but he'll get over it," Su said relieved. Motoko frowned.

"I am glad Urashima is alright, but where did Haitani get such a thing? Forgive me if I'm wrong, but a drug such as that doesn't seem like something one should be able to just buy off the street."

Su sighed at this. "You're right Motoko. As for where it came from…I couldn't tell you. Most countries don't even have the funds to work on something like this…Wherever he got it, I just hope he stays away from Keitaro from now on."

///

"Oh, Motoko. Shouldn't Shinobu and Su be back from school by now?" asked Motoko as the girl entered the house. The martial artist had been thinking about how she had been treating Keitaro since the previous day, and to her credit her guilt grew as time went by. Now, looking at her landlord her heart ached for her to make amends for her misdeeds.

Motoko glanced at the clock and frowned. Keitaro was correct. Unless the two girls had missed the train and had to wait for the next one, they should have arrived half an hour before she did, as she had Kendo practice after school. Yet her she was having arrived at home before the two girls. A brief bit of worry passed through her, but she quickly pushed it off. The girls must have just stopped to shop or get something to eat or something; there was nothing to worry about. Besides, she had more pressing matters.

"Keitaro…" she began, then trailed off as the words left her. Keitaro glanced at her and she swallowed.

"Yes Motoko?"

"I was wanting to-"

The door slammed open, and a bruised and tired looking Su stumbled in. Keitaro caught her as she collapsed and Motoko stared at her in shock. "Su? What happened?"

"They took her!" she screamed as she looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. "They took Shinobu!"

**TO BE CONCLUDED**

///

Tada! The final chapter is next…plus maybe an epilogue. I hope no one thought the genetic drug idea was stupid…I really really wanted to include it for some reason. I also hope no one thinks that Shinoby is OOC. Wouldn't you're character change as well if you had to watch a loved one go through such a thing?

On the list of what I plan on updating, Tea is next.


	6. Exposition

A/N:_ I'm back…sorry its been so long. My life has been particularly hectic as of late._

Gasoline

A Love Hina Fanfiction

Written by SecondSeraphim

Adopted from Ausare

Shinobu awoke to find herself handcuffed to a pipe in the middle of what appeared to be a storage room. The room appeared to be abandoned however, as it was empty of everything save herself, and was completely dark as well, save for a bit of light coming from under a door several feet away from her. There appeared to be people in the room, as every so often the light would flicker as someone moved across it. Shinobu strained her ears to try and listen for conversation; but while she could hear someone talking on the other side, she couldn't make out what they were saying.

Giving that up when her eyes had finished adjusting to the level of light in the room, Shinobu glanced at her surroundings to try and figure out where she was. Her initial thought about the room being empty proved true, as there did not appear to be anything in the room that she could use to free herself. For a moment her hope was dashed, but she rekindled it a moment later as a thought crossed her mind.

'_Sempai will save me,'_

Almost as if to mock her faith the door slid open with the screech of metal sliding against metal, sending the light that had been behind it streaming full force into her face. As the sudden intensity of the light blinded her Shinobu looked away, but not before she saw what, or rather who, had opened the door. Standing there leering at her was a brute of a man, a gun in his pants pocket and a look of hunger filled his eyes as he looked the little girl up and down. Seeing him sport a sick grin as he finished scrutinizing her and reached for his pants, Shinobu couldn't help let out a whimper of fear. This just seemed to encourage the man however, as his grin just grew larger as he moved toward Shinobu.

Before he could do anything however the door slid open once again, and this time Haitani entered. He frowned as he saw the man, and slapped him on the back of the head.

"What the hell do you think your doing? Are you _trying_ to leave evidence?" he demanded. The large man opened his mouth to speak but Haitani just waved him off. "Forget it. Just get out there and keep an eye out for the ronin. Come and get me if he shows up." he ordered the man, who gave a grunt as a reply before turning and leaving. Haitani waited for him to be gone before turning back toward Shinobu. "Sorry about that. Boss gave him and a few of his friends to me as helpers. Not the brightest bunch, though they get the job done."

Shinobu's only reply was silence. Haitani apparently took this as a sign to go on however, and continued.

"Honestly, I can't blame him. I mean, you are quite lovely you know," he said, moving his hand up to stroke the side of her face. "It's a shame you're going to die soon," he said, his smirk growing wider at the look of fear that finally passed through the girl's eyes.

"I mean really, if I were in Keitaro's place I would have fucked the whole lot of you by now-AUGH!" he souted as Shinobu bit down on his hand. He yanked it back and there was the sound of flesh tearing; Shinobu spit out the chunk of flesh and blood that she had taken from him.

"Sempai is NOTHING like you!" she shouted defiantly. Haitani's reply was to hit her as hard as he could.

"You bitch!" he shouted slamming his fist into Shinobu's check, the same one he had been stroking a moment before. Blood, both her's and Haitani's, streamed from her mouth at the impact. Haitani continued to scream at her. "I'd kill you right now if I didn't need you for bait!"

At this Shinobu's face took on a startled look, and Haitani grinned. "What, you didn't know that was why you were still alive? Why we let your friend go? You're bait for Keitaro. When he gets here I'll give him a choice. He can either take more of the drugs...or watch me put a bullet into your head."

"No..." whispered Shinobu, not out of concern for her own safety but out of knowledge that Keitaro would do anything he could to make sure she wasn't hurt. He would take the drugs.

"That's right. And if he says no, I'll kill him right after you. Course, even if he says yes and takes the drugs I'll still kill you. You're to much of a risk to stay alive."

"Why are you doing this? I thought you were Keitaro's friend!" Shinobu asked, not understanding what could have driven the man to treat his comrade like this. Haitani sneered.

"Friend? Just because we both failed to pass the entrance exams, doesn't make him my friend. Shirai and I might have been losers, but nowhere near as much as Keitaro. Still going after some stupid promise after a decade and a half? Of course, Shirai became a pretty big loser as well. He still hasn't been able to get into school. So I had to dump him as well, but it doesn't matter. I don't need him any more," he boasted, caught up in his rant. Shinobu just glared at him.

"So what, you're a big shot know? Selling drugs, making money? What is it that got you hooked, the money, the respect? What made you sell your soul?" She demanded, trying to reach whatever might have remained of Haitani's good side. Evidently she failed, as he just laughed at her.

"Yeah, that all just about sums it up. I got an opportunity. I took it. Now look at me," he said, holding his arms out for her to see. "I have cash. I have power. I'm finally somebody."

"All I see is a monster."

"Yeah, well. Take a good look. It will be one of the last things you see." And with that he turned and left, sliding the door shut again and enveloping Shinobu in darkness. There, alone and no longer needing to show fearlessness, she finally began to cry.

'_Keitaro...please...don't save me._

"What? What do you mean they took Shinobu?" Keitaro asked of the girl collapsed in his arms.

"No cops," Su muttered. "They'll kill her…" she said as he head dropped down into Keitaro's arms. Keitaro froze.

'_No!'_

"Su?" he asked hoping she would tell him it was a joke. But as she lifted her head again to talk to him he saw for the first time just how injured she was. Pushing his concern for Shinobu out of the way for a moment so he could deal with the current situation. Lifting her up and into his arms, he turned toward Motoko and told her to go get Haruka. Then her carried her to the couch and laid the now unconscious girl down and began treating what he could of her injuries. Only a few minutes passed before Motoko returned, the elder Urashima is tow. His aunt took one look at the princess before swearing.

"What the hell happened to her?"

"Will she die?" Motoko asked fearfully. Haruka didn't spare her a glance, but instead knelt down to check on the girl. After a few tense minutes she sat back up with a sigh. "No. It will take her a while to heal, and if she doesn't take it easy there's always the risk of increasing the injury, but for now I think she's fine. Still it'd be better if we took her to the hospital-"

"No!" Interrupted Keitaro. Both Motoko and Haruka jerk their heads toward him. "No hospital. If you take her to the hospital, they'll want to know what happened to her and that will involve the cops. If you involve the cops they'll kill Shinobu!" he finished. At this Motoko let out a gasp and Haruka's eyes widened.

"Just what the hell is going on?" she demanded. Keitaro started explaining. By the time he was finished it was all she could do to not pound her nephew into the ground. Then again, she just might later. Right now there were more important things to do.

"What are you going to do?" she asked her nephew. Keitaro shook his head.

"I'm not sure. I haven't gotten all the information from Su yet," he explained. At this Haruka frowned. She got down on one knee and, to Motoko's protest, began gently shaking the princess in an attempt to wake her up.

"Su. Su honey, get up."

Slowly but surely it worked. The princess opened her eyes and moved to sit up. Immediately she fell back down as a wave of pain slammed into her.

"Su!" shouted Motoko concerned. As she saw her best friend in agony, she made a decision. "Ok, forget the risk I'm calling the hospital!"

"No!" shouted Keitaro, only to be mirrored by Su. The princess forced herself up with Haruka's help. "No hospital. No cops. They'll kill her," she managed to get out. Motoko didn't look convinced.

"But Su, what if-"

"I'll be fine," Su interrupted. "In my lab…I have medical equipment. I'll be ok."

"Su," Keitaro interrupted, earning a dirty look from Motoko. "What happened?"

A dark look crossed Su's face as she remembered. "We were walking home from school. A van drove up. It was painted black. The door opened and some mean jumped out. One of them was Haitani. They grabbed Shinobu and tossed her into the vehicle. When I tried to stop them-" here her eyes watered up-"they started hitting me. I-I think my left arm might be broken," she added, causing Motoko to gasp, Haruka to swear, and Keitaro's hands to tighten in anger. Su forced herself to go on.

"They gave me a note with an address on it," she said, opening her right hand. Keitaro took the paper that had been tightly clenched in her palm and opened it. Keitaro recognized the address.

"They said for you to come alone. No copes or they'll kill her" Su concluded. Keitaro nodded then reached over and patted Su on the head.

"Good Su. When this is all over I'll get you a whole truckload of bananas, ok?"

Su nodded, then closed her eyes as unconsciousness overtook her once more. Keitaro stood up.

"What are you going to do?" Haruka repeated. Keitaro turned toward her.

"I'm going."

"What?" demanded Motoko snapping her attention toward him. "They'll kill you!"

"And if I don't go they'll kill her. I'd rather die than let Shinobu get hurt."

"Than I'll go with you!"

"The note said to go alone. Besides, you need to stay here with Haruka and take care of Su."

Motoko sighed. Keitaro was right on both counts.

"I do have a favor though," Keitaro added, causing Motoko to glance back at him. Motoko nodded.

"Anything to help."

"I need to borrow the Hina Blade."

Silence. Then slowly Motoko took off the sword and handed it to him. Keitaro nodded his thanks to her before turning to leave.

"Wait a second Kei," his aunt said, stopping him. "Here." she said handing him her gun. "The bullets can't be traced."

Keitaro's eyes widened. "Haruka I don't know how to use a gun!"

"For the love of Kami just turn off the safety, point, and click! It's not that damn hard!"

"But Haruka-"

"Do you really want to be the guy who brings just a sword to a gun fight?"

That shut him up. Nodding his thanks once again he turned and left the house. Before he could get to far, a hand on his arm stopped him. He turned to see Motoko.

"Motoko I-" he began, interrupted when she pressed her lips to his. She pulled back a moment later.

"Motoko, Shinobu and I-"

"I know," she interrupted. "I know I missed my chance, and I accept it. That was for luck, and and apology. I'm sorry for what I've done in the past, and how I've treated you. I'm sorry I was such an idiot. I'm just sorry.

Keitaro nodded. "Thank you."

"And Keitaro…if you fail to save Shinobu, I'll have to kill you."

"Motoko…if I fail to save Shinobu, I'll kill myself."

A/N: The end…wait, no its not. It was supposed to be the last chapter, but I really really really can't write a scene I want to do. I've decided to ask for help. I need someone to co-write the last chapter with me, someone who can do action scenes well. IF you are interested just pm me. Assuming I found someone the next chapter WILL be the last one.

PS: Tea is in the hands of my Beta at the moment.


	7. Rescue

Gasoline

A Love Hina Fanfiction

Written by SecondSeraphim

Adopted from Ausare

This Chapter Co-written with Halo Expert

The warehouse was mostly dark when Keitaro entered it. Just a single row of the building's lights had been turned on, forging a path that led straight threw to the other side of the warehouse while preventing him from seeing much else. Obviously a trap.

Keitaro steeled himself, and began to walk.

As he got further in he began to hear movement along the walls of the building. Ignoring it, he forced himself to keep going. He stopped at what he assumed to be the center of the large room however when he came across a small table. It was one of those folds up kinds, and sitting on op if it was a small box. Frowning in curiosity, he reached out to open it when the lights flashed on.

Keitaro slammed his eyes closed in the face of the sudden brightness, opening them slowly again as they adjusted to the light. Glancing around him, he was unsurprised to see that goons surrounded him. When did surprise him was just how many goons there were; the room was full of them. He paid them no attention though as his focus was immediately on the people at the end of the room.

There, elevated about a foot off the ground on a raised platform at the end of the room stood Shinobu. A giant of a man was holding her onto; his muscled covered with more muscles and those muscled covered in tattoos. And standing beside them was Haitani, a smug look upon his face.

Keitaro paid neither him nor the muscled man any attention though; he was too busy looking at Shinobu, making sure she was ok. A rather large bruise adorned her check where it looked like she had been punched, and Keitaro swore to make the one responsible pay. Other than that she looked ok, save for the look of extreme fear that filled her eyes.

"Keitaro…" she murmured. "You shouldn't have come."

"Oh, but he did," said Haitani having heard her. Then, louder so everyone could hear he said, "You're little loli here says you shouldn't have come Keitaro. She would rather of died than see you get hurt."

"I feel the same way about her. That's why I had to come," said Keitaro. While the sentence may have been addressed toward Haitani, Shinobu understood it for what it really was; and explanation and apology to her.

Haitani laughed. "I thought as much. There was no way Keitaro the high and mighty, the "nicest man on Earth," could ever let someone counting on him down. And you didn't! I was counting on you being and idiot and showing up; and here you are." he smirked. Several of the men around the building giggled a the joke, but Keitaro ignored them.

"Let Shinobu go."

Haitani's grin grew even wider. "Very well. Down to business then. You see that box of the table? Open it," he commanded. Keitaro hesitated for a second, then reached over and flipped the lid of the box open. He instantly recognized the contents of the container.

A syringe of Gasoline.

Keitaro looked up at Haitani in horror. The madman's grin just grew.

"Now pick it up, and inject yourself with it. Or I'll blow the girl's brains out."

Keitaro's eyes widened at this. They then filled with resignation as he picked up the syringe and began to push up his sleeve.

"No Keitaro, don't!" screamed Shinobu. Keataro paused and looked up with her, his eyes filled with regret.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to keep my promise Shinobu," he said, aligning the needle. "But I can't lose you." Shinobu's eyes filled with panic as she tried to think of something to do. She did, just in time.

"They'll kill me anyway!" she screamed at the top of her lunges. Keitaro paused with the needle halfway to his arm. He looked up at her.

"What?"

"Shut her up" muttered Haitani, realizing that he was losing control of the situation. The goon who held her moved one of his hands to cover her mouth, but as he did she clamped onto his finger with her teeth, causing him to yell and tear his arm back. Shinobu used the momentary reprieve to finish.

"He told me that he would kill me anyway! Even if you take it I'll still die! Please don't do it Keitaro!"

"I said shut up!" screamed Haitani slammed his fist into Shinobu's face. Her head jerked back for a second and then she lay still.

"Shinobu!" Keitaro started, unconsciously stepping forward and beginning to draw the Hina Blade from the sheath on his back. As he did though Haitani pulled out a gun and trained it on him. He forced himself to stop moving.

"Shinobu," he murmured, praying that the girl was all right. As if to answer his prayer she moved her head, shaking it to get rid of the dizziness.

"Sempai…" she muttered. When he realized she was still awake Haitani growled; he put the barrel of the gun to the side of her head. "One more word out of you and I blow your head off, understand? And you," he said turning toward Keitaro. "Take the Gasoline, or she dies."

Keitaro set the syringe down, and then looked up at Haitani. "No."

"I really will kill her, you understand that? Or is the brain too stupid to pass an entrance exam too stupid to understand this? Let me say it slowly. I. Will. Blow. Her fucking brains out. Got it?"

"You hurt and I will make you pay," was Keitaro's reply as he pulled the Hina Blade from its sheath. Haitani stared at it for a moment before breaking into a laugh.

"A sword? Are you serious? You brought a _sword_ to a _gun_fight? You _are_ an idiot."

"This is the Yoh-katana Hinata. Also known as the Hina Blade, or the Cursed Blade. At one point it nearly wiped out all of Motoko's family and turned Kyoto into a sea of fire. It's no normal sword."

"You expect me to believe that?" demanded Haitani. He pulled the gun away from Shinobu's head and pointed it at Keitaro. "Here's what I think of your sword!" he yelled.

And then he pulled the trigger.

Keitaro jerked back as the bullet slammed into his chest. Instinctively his free hand went up to stem to flow of blood that was pouring out of the hole in his chest. He looked up from the hole and met eyes with Shinobu, who was looking at him with her mouth wide open in a silent scream.

Keitaro went down.

As her love felled Shinobu finally found her voice. She screamed and she cried and she rampaged against the one holding her but to no avail. Finally all she could do was cry and mutter. She turned to Haitani. "I'll kill you!" she screamed at him. He rolled his eyes.

"Oh shut up," he snapped at her. He jumped down off of the stage and walked over to wear Keitaro lay. "I want everyone to know that this was what happens when you mess with me!" he yelled, pulling his leg back and then kicking at Keitaro's body.

Keitaro caught his foot.

"What-" Haitani began as his balance was yanked out from under him. The next thing that he knew he was standing up with Keitaro standing behind him, the sword he had just been making fun of pressed against his throat.

"I've survived ki attacks, Naru punches, and Mecha-tamas. Do you honestly think a _bullet_ would stop me so easily?" he demanded in Haitani's ear. Before Haitani could answer though he heard a cocking sound, and felt something press against his back. "Oh, by the way. I also brought a _gun_ to the gunfight. Remind me to thank my aunt. Now then, tell them to let Shinobu go."

"Let her go!" stuttered out Haitani at his men, who until now had been fidgeting restlessly, unsure of what to do. At Haitani's order however the one holding Shinobu began to loosen his grip.

That is, until a new voice spoke.

"No," commanded the voice. Instantly Haitani went ridged and started shaking so hard it was all Keitaro could do not to cut into his neck.

Not that he was trying to hard. But he did have to get Shinobu back first.

Keitaro had been trying to find the source of the voice when the sound of clapping could be heard from up above. Glancing up, he saw a man in a business suit standing there and clapping.

"Very good, very good. Playing possum. Sure tricked him, didn't it?"

"Who are you?" Keitaro demanded of the man. The man stood there and regarded Keitaro for a moment before giving a sigh of contempt. He disappeared for a moment before reappearing walking down the spiral staircase that led from the catwalk to the ground level. He stepped forward near the guard that held Shinobu, standing in that place that Haitani had stood in moments before.

"My name, Mr. Urashima is Dokuhari. _Dr._ Dokuhari I might add; I didn't spend all those years at medical school just to be called Mr."

"You're a doctor?" asked Keitaro confused over what such a man could have to do with all of this. The man nodded.

"Yes. A doctor of genetics to be precise." he stated. At this Shinobu gasped.

"You're the one behind all of this!"

"Yes. I am the creator of the drug known as Gasoline. The drug was designed to be irresistible, so I am very curious as to how you were able to resist it. Sadly, I don't have to time to find out and will simple have to have you killed and hope you were a fluke," he said, stunning both Keitaro and Shinobu with how nonchalant he was about it, almost as if he had gone to buy whole milk and found that the store only had skim. An inconvenience yes, but ultimately an unimportant one.

"How can you just say something like that you…you monster!" Shinobu screamed. Dokukari glanced at her.

"A monster maybe, but a rich one," he said to her, before turning back so the whole room can hear. "Or at least I will be, in a few days. That's when the shipment will go out spreading Gasoline to the rest of Japan. And then after that I can begin spreading it to the rest of the world. You see Hinata was just a testing ground, a chance to see the drug in action. Haitani's job was to 'administer' the drug to its subjects."

"Why are you telling us this?" Keitaro demanded. The man smiled.

"I'm telling you this because I want you to understand something before you die," he said, pulling a gun out. "You see, now that the test is over, I don't _need_ Haitani anymore." he smirked.

And then he shot Haitani in the head.

"And now you don't have a hostage!" he exclaimed as Keitaro dropped the now dead body in shock. He turned back to his men. "You can kill him now."

The men opened fire.

Keitaro ran like hell for the nearest pile of crates as the bullets flew towards him. He dove behind the pile as the bullets came within mere inches of his leg. He got up into a crouching position, wincing in pain. The bullet wound wasn't bleeding as profusely as it had been earlier, but it still hurt like hell. Every move he made and every breath he took sent a sharp sting through his chest. Splinters flew this way and that as bullets hit the crates he hid behind. Over the roar of gunfire, he could hear Dokuhari's screams of rage.

"Stop firing you idiots! Those crates contain three hundred million dollars worth of Gasoline! If I lose any money on this shipment, so help me God I will fuck the lot of you up!"

Keitaro's ears perked up at this statement. What the hell? This sick bastard is practically helping me out here. He looked at the crates behind him. All this trouble for some sick drug of his. Fine then, he wants to play that way, it's going to cost him.

He looked at the gun that Haruka had given him and gave it a quick overview. It was a semi-automatic pistol, that much he knew, and it had eleven rounds of .357 ammo in its magazine. Not necessarily the best weapon to have on hand, but then again he was no expert when it came to guns. The safety was off and the gun was cocked; all he had to do was point and pull the trigger.

"Okay," he breathed. "Here goes nothing."

He slowly peeked his head over the pile of crates. There were twenty or so goons total on the ground floor, slowly advancing on his position. On the catwalk closest to the rear of the warehouse, eight more figures were watching on. Each of them held a submachine gun, which didn't bode well for Keitaro. The shittiest shooter in the world going full-auto at close range was potentially just as deadly as the world's best crack-shot with a pistol at 100 yards. He wasn't even on that scale. But that didn't mean he couldn't do it. Keitaro popped up, pistol at the ready. He took aim at the closest henchman as fast as arm would allow, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet went wide, missing the man's left arm by several inches. The look of surprise on his face was priceless. He certainly didn't expect that this pathetic kid would fight back. Looks like he would have fun after all. He raised his own weapon and responded in kind, hosing bullets towards Keitaro's hiding place.

"Oh Crap!" he ducked back down as the hail of red hot rounds pelted a pair of oil drums behind him. The sounds of punctured metal echoed throughout the warehouse, followed by the steady drip-drip of old crude on the concrete floor. Keitaro was in way over his head. Sure, he hadn't expected this to be a walk in the park. But he had thought that Haitani was going to be his biggest worry, not some power-hungry geneticist with a small army of trigger happy goons.

Okay, think damn it, think! You're surrounded by thugs holding automatic weapons. Compared to Su's mecha-tamas, this should be easy! Unfortunately, the only flaw there was that he had never had to fight back. Not that anybody could really win against Su's crazy inventions. Minus that obvious fact, the only experience he had had with fighting was when Motoko had challenged him for his right to be the manager at the very beginning. And that battle was a total fluke because she had a cold!

His musings were cut short as he heard footsteps growing louder. He looked over towards the corner of the crate pile and saw a shadow growing bigger. One of the goons was right around the corner. The shadow on the floor was about four feet past the corner of the crate pile, which meant his head was right about…

Keitaro didn't hesitate. He raised his gun up and aimed for the top corner of the farthest crate and fired off two rounds. He was rewarded with a loud thud and several shouts of surprise.

Wow, my basic physics was actually spot on, Keitaro thought with a smile. Maybe failing the entrance exam three times wasn't so bad after all.

So that left nineteen more goons on the first floor. With only eight more rounds in his pistol, Keitaro would either need extreme marksmanship or a bigger gun. And since the dead guy around the corner most likely had one, that made things a little easier. But chances were that as soon as he reached for the weapon, he would get gunned down. From the sounds of it the other goons were backing off, afraid of getting nailed like their friend. They would still be waiting for him to give them a clear shot, so he needed something to even the odds.

He looked towards the crate he had shot and noticed the green trail of Gasoline dripping down the side. He lightly grazed the puddle on the floor with his finger and brought it up to his face. As he rubbed his fingers together, his fingers felt slightly chilled, almost as if the Gasoline was evaporating extremely quickly. It had a surprisingly familiar consistency, extremely similar to that of rubbing alcohol.

"There is no way," he whispered. "Could I really be that lucky?"

He put his finger back in the puddle and moved a few drops over to an empty spot of concrete. He then reached in his back pocket for the book of matches he had swiped from his aunt's tea shop. She seriously needed to quit smoking. He took a match out of the book, lit it, and dropped it onto the small puddle. The abrupt flame and heat that followed brought a smile to his face.

"God bless your stupid genius, Dokuhari."

The fact that the drug acted like its namesake was not lost on him. Had this been a less serious situation, he would have had a good laugh. As it was, this was just what he needed to level the playing field. He would have to be extremely quick here. A split second too slow and he'd be scorched beyond recognition. He pulled several matches out of the book and laid them end to end, the last match resting in the large puddle on the floor. The last match in the book was subsequently lit, and added to the front of the match trail. Time to get out of here.

He slung the Hina Blade over his shoulder, readied his pistol, and bolted around crates, blind firing like mad. The others in the warehouse responded, opening with all they had, some taking cover from Keitaro's suppressive fire. The fallen goon was right there, his weapon laying about a foot from his body. He reached it right has his pistol dry-clicked, out of ammo. He dropped it and grabbed the submachine gun on the floor, all the while running for the farthest pile of crates. The concrete erupted all around him as bullets impacted dangerously close. He wasn't much farther from the crates…

The world around him suddenly disappeared in a flash of white light and concussive roar of sound. His body was lifted off the floor like a ragdoll and thrown into the far wall of the warehouse, twenty feet away. The exploding Gasoline crates incinerated everything within ten feet, which included two unlucky goons. The resulting debris reached even farther out and touched four more, three on the unprotected catwalk, and one out in the open on the ground floor. The flames were intense, engulfing everything they touched. The recently deceased henchmen were quickly turning into charcoal as the flames erased them from existence.

Back in the day, the warehouse used to be the property of a multimillion dollar oil company. So it was no surprise that the only office in the back had very lavish furnishing. The couch alone took up half of the back wall, flanked on either side by solid oak end tables. A nice cedar desk was situated underneath the front window that over looked the warehouse. The executive office chair was the only thing that Dokuhari had brought in himself, made with genuine leather. Granted, everything else here was old and worn out, but the aura that it brought to the room more than made up for it. At least, that's what Dokuhari thought of it. As he sat there, smoking his cigar, he closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of the battle that raged on just outside the office.

While he seemed to be in all his glory, Shinobu was going through her own personal hell. She was currently nestled into the corner of the couch, pinned in place by two of Dokuhari's henchmen. While sitting across from this evil man was horrific, the incessant gunfire outside just made it worse.

Everything will be fine. Keitaro will save me. I know he can make it.

"Hey there, girl."

"Huh?" Shinobu looked up and saw Dokuhari smiling at her.

"Your name's Shinobu, right?" he asked with fake sincerity. She nodded slowly, which only made his smile grow. "I'm no psychologist by far, but I'm pretty sure that the last thing a girl your age wants to do is die. So how about we cut a deal?"

"A deal?"

"Yes. You see, since my man Haitani is no longer among us, I need some new hands to help me administer my drug throughout Japan. There are several groups of people out there that will need to be coaxed into doing so, and I know that a beautiful young girl such as you can help there."

"NO!" she jumped up, only to be roughly shoved back onto the couch. "I will never help you. As soon as he's finished, Keitaro will save me and put an end to you!"

"My dear, your boyfriend is currently at the mercy of my men. There is no way he will survive. Why add two unnecessary deaths to this whole ordeal? If you refuse, you're just going to end up-

He never got to finish his sentence as the office windows shattered inward. The force of the blast sent Dokuhari face first into the floor, and shards of glass raining onto Shinobu.

"KYAAAAAHH!"

The man on the left that was supposed to be restraining her was currently screaming in pain, hands over his now bloodied eyes. The man on the right had his hands over his ears, trying to shake off the shock. Dokuhari struggled back to his feet, coughing up the remains of his cigar. His nose was broken, spewing blood with every breath he took. Shinobu took this opportunity to make a break for the door, but Dokuhari cut her off. With a deft motion of his arm, he backhanded her, sending her reeling back onto the couch. He looked at the now blind henchman with disgust, and subsequently shot him in the head.

"You were supposed to be watching her you useless prick!"

He looked over at the other henchman, who had recovered.

"Make sure she doesn't go anywhere!" he growled, to which the man dumbly nodded.

Dokuhari turned around and looked out the window. Chaos reigned supreme in the warehouse, as fire started spreading everywhere. Crates of Gasoline were being consumed by the flames, as well as several of his men.

"NOOOO!"

Dokuhari watched in horror as his beloved drug went up in flames. Three hundred million dollars of Gasoline, four years of development, funded by half a billion dollars of his own fucking money. All gone…No, not yet. Some of the shipment could still be saved. He just needed his men to put the fire out. Speaking of which, there was one nearby, blindly firing into the flames.

"You! How the fuck did this happen?"

The man was scared shitless from the look his boss was giving him. "That little bastard wasn't as easy as we thought! He's already taken out six of us!"

If looks could kill, this man would be dead already. Dokuhari was absolutely livid. "Get some men to put out the fire! We need to save as much of the shipment as possible! And shoot out the skylights before we suffocate from all this smoke!"

"Yes sir!"

Dokuhari stomped back into the office, where Shinobu was nursing her new wounds. The entire right side of her face was bruised beyond recognition. As Dokuhari approached her, she could swear that she was staring death in the face.

"I'm going to enjoy watching the both of you die."

The first thing that came back online was his hearing. If you could call it that, all that he could hear were loud bells ringing. The next thing that came back was his sense of smell. Smoke, thick and heavy. It stung just to breathe in. Or was that the bullet in his chest? He couldn't tell any more, as his sense of touch was consumed by his entire aching body. When his eyes started working, he was pleasantly surprised to see that not only had his glasses remained on his face, but they weren't even scratched. That thought didn't count for much, as he was currently staring at a wall of flames right in front of him. The intense heat wasn't helping either, as it made getting up all the more difficult.

When he did manage to get his feet, he immediately had to hit the ground again as bullets came flying. He checked to see if he still had the Hina Blade. It was still secured over his shoulder. The sub gun he had swiped from the dead guy was lying nearby. Keitaro crawled over to it as the bullets continued to whiz overhead. He picked it up and took a look. It was an Uzi submachine gun, he could tell just from all the action movies he had watched. It had a collapsible stock, which Keitaro proceeded to open up and lock into position. He'd need all the stability he could get. The magazine release was easy enough to find, and he was happy to see that there was a full clip of ammo. The guy must have reloaded just before he died. How considerate of him.

He continued to crawl to the next pile of crates. As he peered over the top, he saw the fiery hell hole that used to be a dark warehouse.

"Holy shit. Did I really do all this?"

It was hard to believe that he had managed to set fire to most of the warehouse with just a few matches and an illegal drug. But the results pretty much spoke for themselves. Currently, the men on the catwalk had all moved to the opposite side in hopes of getting a shot at him. Some of the men on the ground were shooting out the skylights to release the smoke, while others were going about with small fire extinguishers. It was a futile attempt; nothing was going to save this place.

The men on the catwalk opened fire again. Keitaro ducked down. This was getting out of hand. He had distracted a good portion of the men on the ground floor with the fire, but now he was pinned down against the side of the warehouse by the guys above. Fire flanked him on one side, and the only other side led to more distracted goons. Keitaro popped back up, took aim, and fired off a two-round burst at the catwalk. The recoil was significantly greater than the pistol, causing the gun to jump on him. His shots were way off the mark, but that was expected. He took cover as more bullets came his way.

"Come on!" Keitaro growled in frustration. "Just give me a clear shot!"

All five men on the catwalk were now pelting the crates with bullets. It seemed they were more interested in healing their bruised egos than saving any of the Gasoline. Torrents of the drug were now pouring out of the crates he hid behind, slowly making their way to the flames.

"Fine then, two can play at this game."

He looked below the catwalk at the numerous crates. He raised his Uzi and fired ten rounds. Several missed their target, but the rest hit, marking the crates up and releasing even more Gasoline onto the concrete. The men above were waiting eagerly for Keitaro to go up in flames, but the crates below were much closer the fire…

As soon as the growing puddle hit the flames, they raced straight up it into the crates and detonated. The shockwave knocked everyone off their feet, and the following fireball set everyone on the catwalk ablaze. As their screams filled the air, the catwalk gave way from the blast, ripping from its wall supports and crashing to the floor below. The screams were put to an abrupt end.

Keitaro vaulted over the crates and ran over to the nearest goon, firing his Uzi until it dry-clicked. The man dropped down, his body mangled by the bullets. Keitaro grabbed that guy's gun and slid behind a pair of oil drums. Another explosion rocked the building, indicating that his previous location was now up in flames. He jumped up and took aim at the next guy in the open. Six rounds later the guy was dead on the floor. One of the goons dropped his fire extinguisher, intent on avenging his drinking buddy. Keitaro shifted his aim and fired, getting off four rounds that missed before his gun suddenly stopped firing. He looked down at it in confusion, jabbing at the trigger. It was jammed. He tossed it away and took cover as the goon raised his gun in retaliation.

"Damn it all!" Keitaro said through gritted teeth. He no longer had a gun. He would have to wait for an opportunity and move in with the Hina Blade. The other goons in the warehouse wouldn't all give him a chance at the same time; at most only two guys would be open to attack. The others would tear him to pieces.

The guy's gun had just run empty, and he clumsily went to reload.

"Ahhh, screw it."

Keitaro jogged around the fuel drums and bolted for the man. He reached over his shoulder and unsheathed his sword. The man looked up and freaked, trying as fast as he could to jam the new clip into his gun. But he was too slow. As soon as the loaded the clip Keitaro was on him.

"Haaaaaaa!"

The sword went straight and true, right through his ribcage. The man jerked from side to side, crying out in pain, until he was cut off by the blood filling his lungs. Keitaro reached down and ripped the gun out of the man's hand. At this point, the other goons nearby had trained their sights on Keitaro and were preparing to fire. Using all the strength he could muster, Keitaro yanked the blade to the side, dragging the dying man with it, just in time for the first salvo of bullets to sink into his back. As the now dead guy's full weight hit the sword, Keitaro had struggle to stand up. He raised his gun around his temporary meatshield and fired, catching two guys who had been dumb enough to group together. One guy tried to flank from the right, but was unfortunate enough to pass right by a Gasoline crate just as it exploded.

Keitaro was spraying bullets everywhere, trying to desperately keep the goons as far back as possible. His meatshield was literally falling to pieces as bullets ripped through, narrowly hitting his head. Had this been any normal situation, Keitaro would have puked from the sheer amount of blood and guts that covered him and the floor. Even now, he was struggling to keep everything in his stomach, but he was more worried about dying, and that was enough incentive to not lose it. His gun dry-clicked as the last bullet left the barrel, which continued to smoke.

"Alright," he said, dropping the spent gun. He kept a hold on the sword, making sure that his shield was still in front of him. "Let's do this."

He yanked the sword out of the mangled corpse and took off for the nearest goon, who was standing out in the open in front of some untouched crates. Four of his buddies were waiting behind the crates for a clear shot, and they now had it. They took aim and fired, all of them intent on ripping Keitaro to shreds.

Sadly, for them, they would never achieve this goal.

Keitaro didn't even flinch as the 9mm rounds grazed his face. He didn't even notice when a white hot pain shot through his left shoulder. The pain didn't faze him. He couldn't afford to let it distract him. There was no going back, there were no second chances. He would not screw this up.

Holding the blade in his right hand, as soon as he was within range, he swung upwards, catching the poor man from the stomach, proceeding up through his sternum, and exiting out his neck and clipping his chin. The man was dead as he fell backwards onto the crates. The four goons behind the crates and the five that were off to the side, all looked on in horror as blood sprayed everywhere. They all had one thing on their minds right now:

Who the fuck is this guy?

Keitaro recovered from the swing as quickly as his arms would allow, and started lining up the second swing. His next target: the goon on the far left behind the crates. He ran forward, used the first small crate as a springboard, and leapt with all his might for the man. As he came in, Keitaro swung down with the blade, intent on splitting the guy in half without a problem.

Which was why he was very surprised when he watched almost in slow motion as the man below dropped his gun and pulled a machete out of his coat just in time to block the downward strike. As Keitaro's feet hit the ground, the man swung up, pushing Keitaro's blade out of the way, and leaving him open for his own downward strike.

"It's your turn, you little shit!" he laughed as he brought the machete down.

Keitaro leapt to the left, just barely avoiding getting his arm lopped off. He landed painfully on his side, and rolled over as fast as he could to avoid the next swing the man took at him. He jumped up onto his feet and tried a horizontal slash, which the man skillfully parried with a flick of his wrist.

"Your amateur techniques won't work on me!" the man said with pride. "My skill with knives is unmatched in this town, and a pathetic little man like you can't possibly hope to beat me!"

The rest of the goons had formed a large semi-circle around the two. They were all cheering their buddy on, hoping to see Keitaro in pieces on the floor.

Oh, great. Just what I needed. Keitaro groaned inwardly. Of all the criminal groups I had to get into a fight with, I pick the one with a friggin' knife wielding psycho. Oh crap!

Keitaro ducked as the man tried to decapitate him. When the man was at the full extension of his swing, Keitaro went at him with an upward slash in an attempt to take his arm off. It would have worked, but the man instantly reversed his grip on the machete and tucked his arm in, countering Keitaro's strike. The man pushed hard against Keitaro's sword, forcing his machete and the Hina Blade uncomfortably close to his face. Keitaro pushed back with all his might, desperate to keep the shining blade from cutting his face up. He looked down at the man, and noticed that he wasn't guarding his lower body.

It's a cheap and dirty trick. Keitaro silently chastised himself. But I really would rather not die.

And without further ado, we wound up, and delivered a swift kick to the guy's balls.

The pain was instantaneous, as were its affects. The man doubled over, yelling at the top of his lungs. He was open to attack, and Keitaro took the opportunity to slash downwards. However, even while blinded by pain, the man had kept his composure enough to block the attack.

"YoU'rE fUcKInG DeAd, kID," he said through gritted teeth.

Oh great, now he's really pissed off, Keitaro moaned. Does this guy take Gasoline? No man under normal circumstances should be able to recover that fast…Wait a minute, Gasoline.

Keitaro looked behind him at the crate pile he had vaulted over, and then at the flames that were a few feet away.

Ah, why the hell not? This whole place is going down anyway.

Making sure the guy was still recovering, he turned around and thrust his sword into the nearest crate. He then yanked it out and held it over the flames. The Hina Blade, now engulfed in fire, caused some of the men to take a few steps back. The guy had fully recovered from the low blow, and was looking on with interest.

"You seriously think some flames are going to improve your luck?" he asked. "You're still a fucking amateur."

"Be that as it may," Keitaro held the sword in front of it. "It sure makes me feel better."

The man's face twisted into an ugly snarl as he charged, swinging his machete left and right. Keitaro managed to block the large knife as it came from the left. He quickly angled the blade to the right, causing the machete to slide right off, leaving a gap to exploit. Keitaro pulled back and speared the sword forward. The man twisted, the flaming blade missing him by mere millimeters. It was enough, though, as the frayed ends of this coat's outside pocket caught fire. He quickly patted the small flames away, and charged forward with his own spear attack. Keitaro leapt back to avoid it, almost tripping over on the corpses on the floor. He tried to recover his stance, but he was too slow. The man lunged forward again, and Keitaro's footing was lost completely. He went down hard, landing on his back just as the machete entered his left arm.

"Aaaahh!"

The pain was intense. It wasn't as bad as anything he'd experienced with the girls, but it hurt just the same. From what he was feeling, he was pretty sure the machete's tip was lodged in the bone.

"You're dead meat kid," the man said, chuckling. He was sweating, with an almost frenzied look in his eyes. It was clear that he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings. All he wanted was blood.

Keitaro looked up at him and smiled.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

He brought his knee up into the man's balls, and the man screamed out in pain once again. As his back reflexively arched, Keitaro reversed his grip on the Hina Blade, and stabbed downward into the man's gut. His sword exited out the other side as the man's screams were silenced, the flames of the blade beginning to consume his body.

Keitaro pushed the man's body off of him, pain throbbing through his shoulder. He pulled the Hina Blade out of the man and swiftly put out what was left of the fire with his blood-soaked shirt. He looked down at the machete that was still sticking out of his arm. With a sigh, he sheathed the blade, and grasped the handle.

"This is really going to hurt," he muttered.

With a quick yank, he pulled the machete out, screaming through his teeth as he did so. Blood started dribbling out of the gash, as his abnormal healing abilities went to clot the blood flow. He dropped the machete on the ground, and looked at the burning body in front of him.

"Too bad Motoko isn't here," he said smugly. "She would have been in all her glory fighting you."

He looked up at the rest of the men, of which only eight now remained. They were all stricken dumb at the sight of their buddy's unexpected defeat. Keitaro's glare gave them chills down their spines.

"So," he said. "Who's next?"

"I'll answer that question."

Keitaro looked past the mean and saw Dokuhari. He was holding a gun to Shinobu's head, which was firmly held in place by one of his men. Keitaro looked at him with absolute hatred in his eyes.

"Let her go ri-

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Dokuhari screamed. His rage had reached an all time high by now. "You destroyed four years of my work and effectively ruined my chances of establishing my own market in Japan! All my dreams rode on this shipment! Why the fuck should I even consider what you have to say? And to top it all off, I have a gun pointed at your little girlfriend's head. SO DROP THE FUCKING SWORD AND SURRENDER NOW, OR I WILL MAKE HER DEATH AS PAINFUL AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE!"

Keitaro looked him in eyes, and saw an absolute madman. He was dead serious, and would make good on this threats. He looked at Shinobu; the entire right side of her face was bruised and her eyes were bloodshot. He couldn't stand it. She didn't deserve this pain.

"Fine then," Keitaro said coldly. He took the sword off his back and placed it on the ground.

As soon as he looked back up, he received a blow to face as one of the goons smashed him with the stock of his Uzi. Keitaro reeled from the blow, only to get hit from the left by another goon. He landed on the ground, completely open to a series of violent kicks from five extremely pissed off goons.

"Stop at once you numbskulls!" Dokuhari yelled. "That bastard is mine!"

The men stopped their beating, grumbling. Two men grabbed Keitaro under his arms and pulled him into a standing position. One guy picked up the Hina Blade and walked off to the side, examining it closely. The rest lined up to either side of Keitaro, as Dokuhari approached him with a wicked smile on his face.

"As much as I despise you, I have to give you points for effort. Never before have I seen a single man take down so many of my bodyguards in one go. Who knows; had you been less of an asshole, you might have been a valuable member of my organization. Too bad."

He turned and looked at Shinobu. "I need some help here, Shinobu. Tell me, how do you think I should kill your boyfriend here?"

Her eyes went wide at that statement.

"Shall I make it quick and painless through the head?" He pointed the gun at Keitaro's face. "Or should I go and make it painful as possible?" He aimed the gun a little lower, towards Keitaro's stomach.

Shinobu didn't make a sound. Her arms crept up in fearful anticipation at the horrible scene that was about to unfold.

"On second thought," Dokuhari mused, "scratch that, I don't need any help. I'll just make it painful."

He aimed at Keitaro's hip and fired. The round dug into Keitaro's flesh and embedded itself in his pelvis. Already worn out from the entire ordeal, Keitaro didn't have energy to spend on crying in pain. The muffled groan of pain that came out wasn't enough for Dokuhari.

"Would you look at that, he's got no stamina left. His body isn't even registering pain. Now that's just no fun."

He aimed higher and shot Keitaro in the gut. This time, Keitaro yelped out as the bullet tore through his intestines. Blood was pouring from his wounds now, as his body's healing ability tried vainly to compensate.

"Wow, this guy is really out of it," Dokuhari said amusedly. "Hey Shinobu, any ideas on how we can get his attention?"

The response he got was not what he expected. Shinobu quickly reached over her shoulder and grabbed the knife on her guard's belt. Before he could even react, she stabbed the man in his leg. He yelled in pain, and she ran out of his reach. Dokuhari lifted his gun and fired. However, Shinobu wasn't as tall as he had estimated, and she managed to duck under the shot. Instead, the bullet went right into his bodyguard's chest. Shinobu was heading right for him, knife in hand.

"Shinobu! Don't do it!"

Keitaro's strangled cries were too late. Shinobu was already on Dokuhari, slashing at him viciously with the knife. With a snarl, Dokuhari knocked her hand away, lined up his next shot and fired. The shot went right through Shinobu's chest and out the other side. She hit the ground and the knife fell at Dokuhari's feet.

"SHINOBU!"

"Well…That was unexpected," Dokuhari said. "Looks like I underestimated her devotion to you, Mr. Urashima."

He turned to look at Keitaro, whose head was hanging, tears streaking down his face. His entire body was shaking.

No. This is not how it's supposed to happen! It cannot end this way!

Then let me help you.

What? Who said that?

Don't tell me you've forgotten about me already. I'm the reason you're not married to dear Motoko-chan.

Keitaro looked over to the man holding the Hina Blade.

Oh, it's you.

Yes, it's me. Do you still want to save Shinobu?

Yes.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes?

Yes.

Then let me in…

Keitaro closed his eyes and focused on the blade. As he concentrated, he felt a warm feeling start to spread all over his body. It reached out to every limb, gradually growing to a raging inferno. His body's shakes gradually increased in magnitude.

Dokuhari watched in amusement as Keitaro's body was racked with uncontrollable spasms.

"Why look at this, boys. It seems that his mind left with his girlfriend."

As everyone laughed, the man inspecting the Hina Blade noticed that it felt warm in his hands. Looking closer at the blade, he saw what looked like a faint glow emanating from the carefully tempered metal.

"Hey boss. This sword is acting kind of weird over here."

His voice, however, was ignored as the others continued to laugh at Keitaro. They slapped his face and poked at him, his continued lack of reactions fueling their taunts.

"Maybe he's open for re-education," one guy smirked. "He could be our new errand boy."

"Hey boss. This sw-

"Now that is a fine idea. Let's call our good 'doctor' and we'll see if maybe he can fix him up."

"HEY BOSS!"

"WHAT!" Dokuhari asked angrily.

As soon as the man's mouth opened, the Hina Blade burst into deep, blood-red flames. The fire spread instantaneously, covering the man's entire body. As soon as he opened his mouth to scream, he exploded in a blast of liquid fire that splashed everywhere. The sword was nowhere to be seen.

"What the fuck happened!" Dokuhari yelled out. He looked at Keitaro, who now held the blade in his hand, and was glowing red.

"I happened, you sick son of a bitch."

Before Dokuhari could even blink, Keitaro unsheathed the sword, slashed across Dokuhari's legs, and followed with a bone breaking punch to the ribs. He fell to the ground screaming in pain. His henchmen raised their weapons and proceeded to unload a heavy suppressive fire. Unfortunately for them, they hit nothing but air.

"Holy shit! Did you see that?"

"Where the fuck is he?"

"I can't see-GAAAAHH!"

"OVER THERE!"

One of the goons had been cut clean in half at the waist, both pieces being consumed by the blood-red fire. Behind said pieces, Keitaro was crouched low in an unrecognizable battle stance. All the goons opened fire. With skill and grace unheard of, he dodged in between the wall of bullets, making his way to the next goon. He got down and slid right between the man's legs, at the same time holding the sword up so that it cut right through him.

"KILL HIM!"

All the men were furiously firing their weapons, reloading, and firing again. Keitaro kept dodging their bullets across the entire warehouse, coming in low and picking them off like a sadistic game of tag. The warehouse groaned as the ceiling supports were eaten away by the Gasoline-fueled fire and Keitaro's demonic flames.

"We have to get out of here!"

One man turned and started running, only for his chest to burst as it was cut apart. Another man went to fire his weapon, only to have it cut in half before his eyes, before both his arms were separated from his body. As he looked on in horror, his voice was lost as the Hina Blade entered from the back of his neck and exited out the front. The body was then thrown toward the next guy, who rolled out of the way, only to be kicked across the warehouse and impaled on a pile of rusted rebar.

There were now only two men left in the warehouse, surrounded by the bodies of their fellow men and a raging inferno. They both clutched their weapons, desperately looking around for any sign of Keitaro.

"What do we do? What do we do? What do-

"Shut up and let me think!"

"How are we going to kill this guy?"

"I said shut the fuck up! I'm thinking!"

…

…

"Time's up."

Both men looked behind them and saw Keitaro bring his sword down, unleashing a vicious Ki attack. They were lifted off their feet by the blast and sent screaming through the warehouse's steel sided walls. Both died on impact.

The deed is done, Urashima.

And with that, Keitaro felt the power ebb away, returning to the blade. He hurriedly ran over to Shinobu, who still lay there on the ground.

Keitaro kneeled there on the cold hard ground and held Shinobu's body clutched in his arms. Tears flowed from his eyes as he clutched her chest to his ear in desperation; his eyes squeezed shut as if by denying it he could change what had happened…

…only for those same eyes to snap open a moment later as he heard it. A heartbeat. Weak, and getting weaker, but alive. Shinobu was still alive!

"Hold on Shinobu…I'll save you…" he whispered to her as he stood, her body held in his arms. As he stood though the sound of four shots firing reached his ears and he lurched forward as all four rounds slammed into his back. He dropped to one knee from the force and the pain but didn't drop Shinobu. Clenching his teeth, he turned around to see Dokuhari laying there on the ground where he had dropped when Shinobu attacked him, a look of terror on his face as he continued to pull the trigger of the now empty gun.

"Why won't you die?" he demanded, hysterical. Keitaro ignored him. Instead, balancing Shinobu on one arm, he pulled the Hina Blade from its sheath and swung it behind him. It was several seconds before the man's head hit the ground, several feet from the rest of his body. But Keitaro paid him no mind, already off with Shinobu held in one arm and braced against his body, the other hand using the blade as a cane to help him walk. In this manner he made his way out of the warehouse in a search for help, cursing the fact that the warehouse had been in an abandoned area, one where there would be no one nearby to help.

He hadn't gotten very far when the sound of siren's filled his ears. With a start he realized that the fire in the warehouse must have attracted the attention of emergence rescue; almost with a laugh Keitaro turned around and began making his way back toward the warehouse, a journey that would only take them to the end of the ally they now stood in.

It was not to be. Keitaro was just a few steps from the end of the ally when his knees gave out. He fell forward, his sudden weight driving the Hina Blade into the ground. As he fell her could see the warehouse past the edge of the ally, along with the firefighters and ambulances that surrounded it.

'_Help her!'_ He wanted to shout, but couldn't; he didn't have the strength. Still he tried to reach out toward them, to crawl toward him. But he couldn't. Finally he could only lie there and cry as the girl he loved died in his arms.

A hand reached up and wiped the tears from his eyes. Glancing down he saw it was Shinobu, a smile on her face. "It's ok Sempai," she whispered, reaching over and clasping his hand in her own. "It's ok," she whispered again as she pressed her lips to his. He pressed back with all his strength, knowing it would probably be the last thing he did. And part way through the kiss, Keitaro's heart stopped beating.

Shinobu wanted to scream at the heavens. Instead she just cried.

'_Please. Save him.'_

And then her heart stopped beating as well.

Keitaro Urashima and Shinobu Maehara were dead.

As their blood pooled together it began to flow down the ally, touching the metal of the Hina Blade. And as it did, that ancient sword began to glow. Slowly the blackness that had covered it for so long began to fall away to be replaced with a shiny whiteness. In seconds the darkness had vanished completely, and from the blade shown a light akin the sun. As it washed over the two bodies in the ally way a number of bullets fell out of the holes covering the two; followed immediately by the holes vanishing altogether. Once the holes were filled, the light from the blade faded into nothingness.

Two hearts began beating once more.

Keitaro Urashima and Shinobu Maehara were alive once again.

AN: _The End! Well not quite. I plan on posting a short epilogue to wrap up any lose ends, but this is the official end of the story. I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it, and a special thanks to Ausare, the original author, and to Halo Expert, my coauthor for this chapter. Without him the ending would have sucked. Like, a lot. So if you haven't read his stuff before go do so, and do me a favor while you're there and poke him into updating already._


End file.
